Ice and Fire

Last time it was Skadi - this time it's Isa's turn!
Doesn't she look truly beautiful in this wintry surrounding? Unfortunately it seems that she is the one of our dogs that likes this weather least... However we can enjoy these pictures of Ice and Fire!

Isa and Tova playing

This stick is not big enough for you and me...

...even if it is quite big.This second entry for today is for those of you who are here for the pictures instead for a lot of words ;) especially for those who have missed Isa recently.
Just click on the pictures to make them bigger!

Some cool pics...

A while ago I decided that it would be quite nice to be a bit more active here and to post new entries on a regular basis. However I didn't find the time yet, even if there are some things going through my mind I'd like to share with you, dear readers.
Well, maybe I 'll manage it somehow...
Anyway - here are some of my recent photographs of our dogs (as recent as from march till may ;)), certainly some of my best shots ever. Just see them as a kind of teaser for some slide-shows that will follow soon.

Enjoy it!

Winter in Brunnsberga

More than one month has passed since my last entry here - a month with a lot of snow!
We have a real swedish winter right now - the first one since 10 years in this region.
The dogs are enjoying the white fun outside day by day - lot's of possibilities for me to get great pictures.
Some of them I'd like to share with you:

The long awaited update!

Well, it has been a very long time since my last entry even though I wanted to post something all the time. But there were a thousand reasons keeping me away from my computer.
First of all I had to get my buisness running again after dedicating all my time to the dogs under the first months of this year. So I was working a lot and used the computer/internet for this purpose almost exclusively. Furthermore the weather was great and I prefered to spend some more time outdoors.

Then something happend which forced me again to give all my attention to the dogs again - Skadi and Isa had a fight!

Everyone who owns multiple dogs of the same sex knows and fears this problem, being one of the most terrible things that can happen and menace the peaceful continuity of the pack.
Fortunately Skadi and Isa have a very deep and special connection which couldn't be destroyed by one single occasion like this. However it shows that something was going wrong and that some work is needed to put their relationship and with it the order of our pack back on the track.
A lot of motion is always a helpful first step, so we spent very much time into the forest these days!
Now the pack is at peace again and there are no visible tensions between the two adults, however we have become very careful now.

Little Tova isn't that little anymore - actually she is already quite big and heavy. She has about 22 kg and it wont take very long until she is as big as her mother.
Her set of teeth is almost completely changed at this point.

Tova is a real nice dog, not shy at all, she is very curious and active, loving to be outside in nature. She likes new people and wants to play with everyone. She is also a lot more cuddly than her mother. With a few exceptions her urge for destruction is limited to her toys - at least inside the house ;)
She loves her mother and auntie Isa very much, however she is occasionally still a bit to wild for them.
Additional to the fotos above a little slideshow with some pictures from the last weeks:

Summertime - Tova and the pack

More pictures you can find here:
http://www.wolfhonden-online.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?p=90929#90929

...often new ones await

For those of you who may wonder how this blog will continue - I can tell you that the daily entry won't go on like in the last two months. The puppy book of our Alfa-litter can be closed soon and new tasks and adventures are waiting for our pack. However you will get some more informations and pictures (hopefully - if the new owners provide us with them;) in the next days, like summaries about every puppy and the answer to the question: "How are the pups doing in their new homes?" In the future we will post regularly updates about the development of the pups and of course about the remaining pack up here in Sweden:

Mama Skadi,
Auntie Isa
and of course Tova

So just cast a glance from time to time!

Very special pictures

The future owners of Wahya took these very special pictures when they were here to visit us on last sunday. These are thermic pictures. They use this so called infrared thermography in their clinic mainly to find inflammations which are not visible otherwise. More info you find about this very interesting topic on their website http://www.barfklinikken.dk/ (at least if you can read danish ;)
Thanks to Lars and Merete for the permission to use these pictures here on the blog!

Tjalve
WahyaIsaDon't know who these two dogs are, but the knee in the right side is actually mine ;)

Burp (the title says everything)

Sorry, I am almost ashamed to post something as ridiculous as this small video, but maybe some of you share my bad taste. I can hearty laugh about Isa's face when this "burb" comes - it's like the sound and her eyes are synchronized.
Attention - you won't get the joke without sound!

Washed dogs

We had a very nice walk in the forest today - unfortunately Skadi found some animal remains and she wallowed in this nasty stuff. So she needed a washing - Isa had to go through the same cleaning procedure and now we have nice smelling and absolutely clean dogs.
Time for some fotos - freshly showered dogs look always best on pictures ;)

Auntie Isa

Really nice how Isa behaves toward the puppies - we are even a bit suprised how tender and careful she can be...
And look how she tries to shelter little Tova with her body at the end of the video - this gesture seems to say - she is mine now!

back on the first floor

As you may remember, the puppies were upstairs in our bedroom for the first 2 weeks to avoid tensions between the both adult dogs Skadi and Isa. Now they and their home have returned to the place of their birth in our living room.
Here they will be able to learn that ordinary sounds or visitors, plain and simple common human life, means no harm to them.
Furthermore it is good for both adult females to get used to the situation - Especially Skadi has to learn that Isa is not dangerous for her offspring.
During the last days we had them together from time to time and it worked out fine - but it is still a somehow risky atmosphere. But Isa is doing it very fine - she seems to like the puppies like they would be her own. One of them was crawling over to her, trying to drink (out of order ;)) and Isa started immediately to lick and clean it the same way Skadi does - and she did refuse to give the pup back to Skadi!
Otherwise it is very clear now who is the boss of them both - Isa ocasionally behaves even submissive and careful - something pretty unusual for her.

A time of growth...

Even if the weather today is not as nice as the last few days, I went for a longer walk with the dogs before noon. It is exactly the kind of diversion from breast-feeding the pups, that Skadi seems to need occasionally. And it was wonderful!


All is in bloom, a fresh feeling of renewal pervades everything. It is sunny and green, but yet without the suffocating heat of summer. And in fact we met this new life in form of these small bird chicks, resting on our path. The mother had escaped into the bushes, leaving them without a shelter - giving me the opportunity to make this picture. And no - the dogs did NOT kill them, of course!

The only thing that troubles me, is the fact that I can't say what species these chicks belong to - back at home I tried to figure it out about an hour - without success. If some of you have an idea, please contact me!

The last stop on our walk was this little creek where the dogs could refresh themselves and have a small play. In fact Skadi is play a lot more now - it seems that giving birth to the 5 puppies for her was a fountain of youth in a way.

Alfa - day 4

Skadi is feeling really fine, that's actually something I hadn't thought before. I mean, the birth, the puppies and everything around it means a lot of stress. But Skadi is as relaxed as possible, enjoying our tender loving care as much as playing with Isa. This morning we went to the small pond on our yard, were both, the dogs and we humans, had a really nice time. We are very glad to see that there's no whatsoever tension between our adult dogs - both have accepted the unusual situation and are happy to meet 3 or 4 times a day. Let's hope it will stay this way all the time!



Alfa 1Weight in the morning: 521g
Weight in the evening: 546g

Alfa 2Weight in the morning: 649g
Weight in the evening: 664g

Alfa 3
Weight in the morning: 468g
Weight in the evening: 503g

Alfa 4Weight in the morning: 534g
Weight in the evening: 547g

Alfa 5Weight in the morning: 440g
Weight in the evening: 456g